apt-get

[Rashkae]

Joseph wrote:
> 
> Dotan, what is this killall -0 apt-get command?  What does that do?
> 

killall -9 <command> will send the "KILL" command to any process by that
name.  Normally, when you want to force close a program, you would use
the TERM signal, (which would be the default if you didn't use the -9
switch.). Term signal politely informs the process that a user with
adequate privileges has asked it to vacate the building, and assuming
the process isn't hopelessly hung up and broken, it should complete
whatever housecleaning it needs and close.

The -9 Kill signal is the equivalent of sending in the Kernel security
team to shoot first and not bother with the questions.  The process is
is simply terminated by the system.  This should only be used as a last
resort if a process is completely unresponsive.... and should never be
used on a process that might be in the middle of modifying system or
data files.